


Family Affair

by ratclanqueen



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Core Four Friendship, F/M, Humor, Teen Pregnancy, VKs | Villain Kids (Disney), bit of angst, mainly fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-04
Updated: 2020-03-22
Packaged: 2020-07-31 02:17:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20107549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ratclanqueen/pseuds/ratclanqueen
Summary: Mal leaves the Isle for Auradon Prep with a secret; she's three months pregnant. Along with her friends, Mal tackles school, pregnancy and the sudden reappearance of the father- the notorious Harry Hook, who is not happy about being kept in the dark for so long...Mal x Harry Hook(background evie/doug, jay/lonnie, VK friendships and jane being lovely)





	1. Chapter 1

**August**

Thunder cracked around the Island and bolts of lightning barely made an impact on the all-encompassing gloom that had settled over the main harbour. Storms were frequent on the Isle, but the sleeting rain was thick and ferocious, meaning that the streets were truly empty as villagers, villains and all manner of creatures sought refuge from the dangerous weather.

Evie had pulled her thickest winter cloak on and ran through the downpour and hail to arrive at the hideout she and her friends inhabited, completely soaked to the bone and freezing, but she didn't care, as long as she didn't have to spend the night trapped with her mother.

Thankfully, as soon as she had arrived, Jay, who had been there most the afternoon, had the log burner roaring and the attic of the warehouse was cosy and inviting. Carlos had stolen several flasks of hot chocolate and freshly baked pastries from an abandoned vendors cart as soon as the heavens had opened and so the friends ate heartily and were warm and fed.

The boys had retreated to their own private areas of the warehouse after a few hours, leaving the two girls to talk but the room had been plunged into darkness as the storm doubled its effort and the power had been cut shortly after that.

In the darkness, illuminated by the orange glow of the flames in the fire, Mal had confessed a secret she had been carrying around with her for nearly three months.

"I'm pregnant," she told the flames licking the logs, unable to face her best friend. Her nerves were eating at her insides and she wanted to throw up but Mal remained stoic on the sofa, a true vision of the girl her mother had raised her to be.

"Are you sure?" Evie's back was ramrod straight and she was crossing her fingers under the material of her dress, hoping that Mal had counted wrong or was simply late. She fought to keep her tone neutral. Raising a child on the Isle was hard, but Evie knew any child of Mal's would be doomed to live a life of crime under Maleficent's unmerciful thumb.

"I'm positive. It's Hook's," was all Mal had said before she was on her feet, her nervous energy making her unable to sit still.

Mal paced around the dark hideout, wringing her hands in front of her as she completed a circuit around the room, using her memory and the brief lightning flashes to navigate her way around in the dark. A million thoughts were zipping through her mind as she walked.

"Oh Gods above, you're making me dizzy!" Evie complained from the hearth of the fireplace after a while, rubbing her eyes as Mal slowed to a stop. "And all this stress cannot be good for the baby," she added which made Mal groan and resume the agonising fidgeting in the centre of the living area.

"Don't say that again!" Mal warned, wringing her fingers. "Don't make me regret telling you either," she added as a distracted afterthought.

It was then that Evie could hear the fear in Mal's voice. The blue-haired girl softened and she got up from her knees and interrupted Mal's circuit around the room.

"Mal," she began slowly, holding her arms out as an invitation for a hug. "I promise you won't regret telling me." Mal's lower lip trembled and she rushed forward, allowing Evie to wrap her arms around her. "I'm here for you both," Evie soothed her best friend.

Mal stiffened. "Me and this child or Hook and I?"

"You. You before anyone else and if you do have this child, then I will love and protect it as I do you," Evie told her truthfully. "Have you told anyone else? Does he know?"

Mal sighed and a bolt of lightning highlighted the tears on her cheeks. "No. My mother would demand I get rid of it or she would raise it. The boys will only worry and Hook's ship set sailed for a trip around the barrier a few weeks ago and has yet to return. You're the only person I trust with this," Mal sniffed and Evie led them to the reclaimed sofa.

They sunk into the cushions and held each other as the rain continued to hammer the roof and Mal cried. Evie was holding back her own tears when she untangled herself from Mal and reached over to the wooden crate they used as a coffee table.

When she sat back, Mal could just about make out the cream envelope in Evie's hand. It was made of thick, expensive paper and closed with a golden seal, an emblem of a blooming rose pressed into the hardened wax. Mal recognised it because she had been given one by a cloaked figure that morning.

Mal sat up and pulled her own crumpled letter from her back pocket. She smoothed it out on her thigh and held it up next to Evie's. She noticed that Evie had yet to open hers either.

"Open them together?" Evie questioned and Mal bit her lip and nodded.

Slowly, the girls used their nails to break the wax seal and open the envelope. The inside was golden and a single letter nestled between rose petals. Mal and Evie looked at each other and then simultaneously pulled out the letter, brushing the stray petals to the floor.

They read them silently by the firelight and when they had finished, Mal's letter was on the ground and both girls were crying. The noise brought Jay and Carlos out from their rooms and they quickly came to the girls' sides. Jay reached them first and wrapped both girls into his arms as Carlos picked up Mal's letter.

"We've both got one too," the white-haired boy told them. "Opened them an hour or so ago." His voice was thick with emotion and unshed tears.

"There's something I- I need to tell you both," Mal stuttered over the words and the boys joined the girls on the sofa.

"You're pregnant," Jay told her gently. "It's alright, I already knew," he said in reply to Mal's shocked gasp. Carlos, on the other hand, was stunned speechless.

"How?" was all Evie said, slightly jealous that Jay somehow knew.

"A week or two ago you stayed the night here but you were throwing up as soon as you got up. Continued for the few days you stayed but you didn't have food poisoning because everything you ate, I had eaten too," he explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Only other explanation I could think of."

"Is it his?" Carlos asked quietly. Mal had always only been entangled with one man.

"Yeah. You three are the only ones who know though."

"What are you going to do?" Jay asked.

"Whatever you decide, we are all here for you Mal," Evie said seriously.

Mal smiled at her friends and looked at the letter Carlos had passed to her. "It looks like we're going to Auradon and maybe the baby will have a better life there."

* * *

**September**

Mal, Evie, Jay and Carlos had packed their clothes and belongings into bags and cases, slowly taking their possessions from their parents' houses and moving it the hideout without raising suspicion.

All of them knew that their parents would refuse to let them leave for Auradon and so the quartet had only frequented their family homes when called upon. It was a good job that the four usually spent more time at the hideout and had the majority of their belongings there.

A car had arrived and the four had successfully left the Isle without encountering their parents or actually informing them. On September 5th, Mal guessed she was roughly eleven weeks along and had relied on her friends to help her come to terms with the fact that she was carrying a child, a truth she had distanced herself from. And it wasn't just any child; the perfect mixture of one of the most ruthless villains on the Isle and the strongest witch in the past century according to the rumours.

As the had limo pulled up in front of the school's courtyard, the quartet had been greeted by the headmistress, and a prince and princess. Prince Ben, the royal who had decreed that villainous kids from the Isle should be educated, had shown the four around and looked confused when Evie and Mal rushed off to a toilet for Mal's morning sickness to pass. The four had then been escorted to dinner and left to their own devices to make their way to their rooms with a map from the Prince.

"So we're not going to mention the b-word situation at all?" Carlos had asked when the four found the boys' room and let themselves in.

"No, not until it's necessary," Evie replied as she sat on the closest bed. "Oh, it's so soft!"

Mal had taken to subconsciously resting a hand on her flat stomach. "What's going to happen when I start to show? Or if word gets back to the Isle?"

Jay wrapped the girl in a hug as Carlos threw himself onto the mattress next to Evie. "We'll just take everything one day at a time, like usual."

For the rest of the month, the VKs had settled into life at Auradon Prep.

The girls had blossomed in class. Evie had become a top contender with her grades and achievements whilst also undertaking classes in fashion, sewing and textiles. She quickly became the person to go to if you wanted a custom design or needed help with chemistry work.

Mal had kept her head down, only using her magic when she was alone with the VKs, but she continued to practise her skills and hone her talent. She was serious about making a good name for herself in Auradon and Fairy Godmother had taken her under her wing to develop and widen her magic skills for the better.

Her pregnancy had also caused her mood to swing dangerously and she became withdrawn from her peers as many were quick to blame evilness for her sudden changes in attitude. Mal also began to gag at certain smells or foods and none of the VKs ate anything with oranges in it as the smell of the citrus fruit was enough to make Mal throw up.

The boys had also settled in. Jay was one of the best sports players at the school and was seen as a catch for anyone to date. Carlos had taken a shine to animal husbandry and was on the polo and horse riding teams, working himself to become one of the most trusted students when it came to the animals.

Both boys had always been fiercely protective over the girls, but with Mal's predicament, she was never far from one or the other and she was rarely left alone, but she preferred it that way and was grateful to her friends more than ever. Everyone at the school knew if they needed Mal, they should expect to find Jay, Evie or Carlos faithfully by her side.

**October**

October arrived with cold breezes and infrequent dustings of frost on the ground, and Mal, now just under four months along, was thankful she was no longer experiencing morning sickness, but she was suffering from heartburn and fatigue more often than not.

Evie and the boys found Mal's scattered pregnancy brain hilarious as the purple-haired witch forgot or misplaced things. In the third week of October, as the leaves began to fall and the school broke up for the Hallowe'en half term, the four VKs remained behind and they scoured the library's vast magical collection for anything to help with the pregnancy.

Over the week that they were the only students at the school, Mal brewed a tonic with Evie's chemistry knowledge and she and Jay researched about both pregnancy and potions to mask the symptoms. On Hallowe'en, the final day of the half-term holiday, Carlos had stumbled across a spell to hide the slight swell of Mal's stomach.

With Evie and Jay sat on either side of her, Mal wrote a letter to the Pirate, whose ship had still not returned to the Main Harbour of the Isle according to Carlos. They gave the letter to Fairy Godmother and by this time, Mal was certain Fairy Godmother suspected something but she never approached the subject. The headmistress simply doubled their private magic lessons and helped Mal conquer health and domestic spells and promised to deliver the letter before the end of the month.

If they were in public, the VKs referred to the baby as 'the bird' and spent a long time planning the next few weeks. Evie was beginning to tailor some maternity clothes for Mal. The witch continued to use the spell Carlos had found to hide her bump during the day but when she was alone in her room on the weekends or after classes, she lifted the magic and marvelled in the sight of the bump above her pelvis.

She had always been a slender girl and even the sight of the small bump made her heart flutter in anticipation.

Would she be a good mother? Would she be allowed to stay and raise her child in conjunction with the school on Auradon? Would Hook ever meet the child? Would Maleficent try and take the child? The questions echoed through her head all the time but she didn't try to dwell on them.

**November**

Autumn was well and truly underway by the time November arrived. Not only was Mal happier about the cooler weather and the leaves and frost on the ground, but the spells and tonics she had cast and brewed over the half term meant she was comfortable and no longer suffering from a multitude of annoying symptoms.

Evie had been guessing the gender of the child for weeks but when Mal hit four months, Evie had taken one of her needles and dangled it on a thread above Mal's stomach one night in their room. The two girls watched as the needle swung back and forth like a pendulum over the bump. The old wives tale was enough for Evie to be convinced it was a boy and she began to list names she had been thinking about.

"I still think its a girl," Mal told her best friend. She had subconsciously been referring to the child as a girl but she had yet to voice it aloud.

Evie pouted and climbed into bed. "Jay thinks its a girl too but Carlos agrees with me, so I guess the bird will have to side with one of us."

Mal grinned as she eased herself into bed. "She'll listen to her mother," she told her best friend, resting her hands atop of the bump.

Evie snorted. "Yeah right. He's obviously going to side with me, his cool godmother," she laughed.

"Who said anything about you being godmother?" Mal asked, suddenly serious which made Evie sit up and look at her with abnormally wide eyes. "I'm kidding. Of course, you're the godmother," Mal snickered as Evie visibly deflated.

"Oh my gods, I thought you were being serious and I was freaking out!" Evie complained through strained laughter.

The next morning Mal was called to Godmother's office before registration and she had a strange, uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach so she made Evie and her boyfriend Doug accompany her.

Doug had easily slotted into the friendship group, almost as if he had transferred from the Isle and grown up with the VKs. Evie and Doug began to date at the beginning of October and by the middle of November, Doug was as good as a VK and fully integrated into the group. Mal had asked Evie to tell him and he had taken the news surprisingly well and become one of Mal's main supporters.

"Do you think this is about the bird?" Doug asked the two girls as they climbed the main school's stairs to Godmother's office.

"What if she asks you to leave?" Evie worried aloud, gripping both Doug and Mal's hands with such pressure Mal winced and Doug whined.

"She won't do that. If anything she may just be offering support," Doug answered his girlfriend. Mal couldn't concentrate and she simply took in the surroundings, in case she was asked to leave the school that had become her home and could never return.

"You're freaking her out," Evie hissed, realising that Mal was paler than usual. The trio came to a halt at the top of the stairs and both Doug and Evie came to Mal's sides. She was breathing deeply, almost like she was out of breath or as if she couldn't breathe enough.

"Mal?" Evie panicked, gripping her arms to stop her swaying. Mal's head lolled forwards and her knees gave way but before she could fall to the floor, Doug and Evie were holding her waist and keeping her upright.

"Oh gods above," Evie panicked and she helped Doug half carry, half drag Mal to Godmother's office. "Help! Godmother, help!"

The woman looked up suddenly with wide eyes and a slack jaw. It took her only seconds to snap into action and she swept around from her desk, pushing past the two boys that had been stood shoulder to shoulder in front of her, and she used her magic to pull the chaise lounge from under the windows out and closer so that the couple could set the unconscious girl down.

"What happened?" Godmother asked, waving her wand over the girl and removing all of the magical enchantments she was wearing.

Both Evie and Doug winced as the spell concealing Mal's bump and the magic that held her hair in the elaborate updo came undone. Both physically reacted to when Godmother gasped but the sudden loud noise behind them made all jump.

When Evie and Doug had burst through the door, Godmother had been in consolation with two of the latest Isle transfers. The two pirates were shuffling under the Godmother's glare as she tried to hunt down her pen.

"It's here somewhere, don't you worry," Godmother told the boys as she rooted around her cluttered desk. "I think it's he-" but she never finished her sentence as the door was kicked open revealing a limp Mal in the arms of her friends.

Godmother forgot about the pen and gripped her wand, pushing past Gil and Harry to rush to the girl's side. No-one paid the two pirates any mind as the spells were reversed until Harry's silver hook was wobbling, piercing the mahogany wood of Godmother's desk.

"What the hell happened," he hissed, seething at the sight.

"Oh gods above," Evie whispered, gripping Doug's hand.

"And he is?" Doug whispered back, standing in front of Evie in a protective way.

"That's the father."


	2. Chapter 2

_Part two_

8:47 am

Harry and Gil stood shoulder to shoulder as the small witch bustled around her messy office.

"It's here somewhere," she said merrily as she rooted through a pile of scrolls, on the hunt for the two new students' class schedules.

Gil and Harry shared a look, amusement from Gil and annoyance from Harry, as the pile collapsed and tumbled from the chair it had been stacked on.

Gil rushed forward to help as Harry peered onto the Headmistress' desk, using the tip of his hook to dislodge the papers.

"Thank you," Godmother sighed as Gil handed her the scrolls.

"I think it's right here ma'am," Harry said politely, nodding towards two pieces of paper with their names on.

"Of course it is," Godmother laughed. "If my head wasn't screwed on I would probably misplace that as well," she joked, abandoning the scrolls as she walked around her desk.

"Now, it'll just run through these quickly with you as the student who will act as your guide today is on her way hopefully," she told the boys as she sat down and gently pulled the two sheets of paper away from the rest of the clutter on her desk.

"Do we have time to see our rooms?" Gil wondered aloud as Godmother placed a pair of cat-eye spectacles on her nose, the chain it had hung from around neck glinting in the early morning sunlight that was streaming through the large windows.

"I should think so," Godmother replied but she wasn't paying her full attention to the pirates as she was now looking for her pen.

"I should just spell it to my hand," she muttered under her breath, glaring around the desk with enough fire that both of the pirates shuffled on their feet, suddenly wary of the plump woman who had not held any threat.

The way she was glaring made the two boys thankful they were not on the receiving end of the sharp look.

"It's here somewhere, don't you worry," she told the two, wary of the time. She was flicking her fingers and making the papers on her desk jump so she could look for her pen. "I think it's under he-" she never finished her sentence as the door to her office was kicked open, sending it crashing into the panelled wall with a loud bang.

"Gods above," Gil muttered as he took in the scene.

Mal was being held up by Evie and a boy in glasses, the two of them gripping the purple-haired girl's limp arms around their necks.

Harry pinched the skin on his forearm, wincing when it sent a sharp pain running up his arm.

Gil glanced at his best friend but his attention was once again diverted by Godmother as she rushed around her desk, elbowing her way through the two tall pirates with her wand in a white-knuckle grip.

A bolt of white magic pulled the chaise longue out from under the windows and into the open space in the middle of the office. Another jet of magic and the papers and books that had been stacked on top were thrown onto the floor in a heap.

"What happened?" Godmother demanded as the couple set the prone girl down carefully.

"We climbed the stairs and then she started breathing really deeply and she went pale and then collapsed," Evie said in a rush, gripping at her boyfriend as Godmother waved her wand over Mal's body and removing all traces of magic.

Mal's updo of curls and plaits came undone and her school shirt strained under the pressure of the five-month pregnancy bump appeared.

Godmother began chanting spells to diagnose Mal's ailment but she faltered and jumped when a loud metallic noise rang through the small room.

Evie and Doug turned to see Harry's hook wobbling on its point as it pierced the mahogany of Godmother's desk, small splinters of wood scattered of the mess.

"What the hell happened," Harry demanded, only remaining rooted to the spot because Gil had stood in front of him, his arms wrapped around his friend as he struggled.

Evie whispered something into Doug's neck and he murmured something back that neither pirate could hear.

"That's the father."

In a blur, Gil was on the floor with a bloodied lip and Harry was gripping Evie's neck in one hand, his hook on her cheek.

Doug stumbled back as Evie's demeanour changed. Godmother was still engrossed in casting spells and she hadn't even blink since Mal had been laid down.

"You knew," Harry spat in Evie's face but the blue-haired girl just looked at him, one hand out to the side to tell Doug to remain where he was.

"We wrote to you, a few months back," Evie told him, using her other hand to prise the fingers away from her neck. "Didn't you get them?"

Harry sagged slightly and Gil carefully got back to his feet.

"There was a storm out at sea, mid-October, everything was destroyed," Gil said as Harry relapsed into silence, his eyes transfixed on Mal's stomach.

"Can someone tell me what's going on," Doug said, yanking on Evie's hand and bringing her to his side.

Evie allowed her boyfriend to wrap his arm around her waist as she gestured to Gil.

"This is Gil and that's Harry. When did you dock back on land?" She directed the question to the pirate and he ran a hand over his jaw.

"Five or so days ago. Just as it turned November. Got given letters about the school and we made our way here. How far along is she?" Gil asked quietly, aware that Harry was frozen to the spot, still staring at Mal who had not opened her eyes yet.

"It was five months three days ago, or at least we think so. It was hard to track the actual day, you know..." she left the sentence open and Gil nodded with a sly smile. Harry and Mal had spent several days saying goodbye before the two pirates had left for the voyage and if Harry's retelling of the days held any shred of truth, Gil could easily believe Evie.

"Like she said, I'm Gil," the pirate said, holding his hand out for Doug. The two shook hands as a blinding white light engulfed the room.

It faded in seconds but everyone was staring at Mal as she opened her eyes slowly.

She groaned and her hand went to her bump but found that someone's hand was in hers. She panicked for a moment but blinked hazily as Harry came into focus.

"Hi you," she murmured with a smile, instantly calming down at the sight of the pirate above her. "How did you die?"

Harry looked at Godmother who was wiping her brow. "Did she just ask me how I died?"

Evie rushed around to the other side of the chaise longue, stroking Mal's hair back.

"She's exhausted and probably thinks she's dreaming right now. She needs bed rest for a few days but her body had been under so much magic for a sustained period that she needs a week or so magic-free," Godmother told the students as Doug helped her up from her knees.

"Mal, honey, can you hear me," Evie asked her and Mal slowly turned her head.

"You're here too," Mal breathed. "Did you see Harry?"

"I'm right here Mal," he said, squeezing her hand. "Whose idea was it to magically conceal a baby bump?" he growled at Evie.

"Hers," the blue haired-girl replied. "No one knew."

"You don't say," Harry said coolly.

"Evie and Doug, take the two boys and Mal back to her dorm room. I'll come by at lunchtime to check up on her. Doug, you're now the two boys guide and you can start lessons tomorrow. I'm sure there is a lot you all need to talk about," Godmother sighed, patting Doug's shoulder.

"Can I go and get Jay and Carlos, they need to know what's happening," Evie asked and Godmother nodded. "I'll send a note on for them to meet you in your room. Now go before the hallways get crowded."

Godmother bid them farewell and she all but pushed them out of her office. Harry scooped up Mal and carried her from the room as Evie threw her jacket over her best friend, covering the bump from prying eyes.

Doug and Gil led the way through the school which was thankfully empty as most of the students and faculty were in their first period lessons. As they passed places of interest, like the dining hall, Doug pointed them out to Gil and Harry but Harry wasn't listening.

9:13 am

Evie unlocked her dorm room and gestured to Mal's bed so that Harry could set her down.

Mal had muttered several inaudible things on the small walk but for the most part, she slept against Harry's chest.

"Are all the rooms like this?" Gil asked as he and Doug took seats on the sofas that surrounded the fire. Evie struck a match and lit the firewood in the grate as Doug rambled about the rooms.

A frantic series of knocks made everyone jump and Evie rushed to open the door, stepping back just in time so that Jay and Carlos could come tumbling through the doorway.

"What happened?"

"Is she okay?"

"What's going on?" the final voice nearly made Evie slam the door closed. Lonnie looked around the room with wide eyes.

"Lonnie?" Doug began but he was interrupted by Jay.

"I told her, it's alright," he huffed, rushing to Mal's side.

"Jay! Why the hell did you do that?" Evie cried. "Sorry Lonnie, no offence or anything."

"None taken I assure you. I had my suspicions but Mal knows I know, or at least Jay said she did," the Asian girl told the room. "Who's that?" she pointed to Harry who hadn't moved from Mal's side.

"Hi, I'm Gil," the pirate said, holding out his hand and Lonnie shook it. "And that's Harry, the father," he said with a beaming smile.

Lonnie nodded and took in the room.

Doug was rubbing his glasses on his shirt, his shoulders tense. Gil seemed to be happy about the news that his best friend was to be a father.

Evie and Carlos were having a silent conversation through looks alone, both biting their lips and Evie seemed to be on the verge of tears.

Jay stood at the foot of Mal's four-poster bed, glaring at the back of the pirate who was holding the sleeping girl's hand.

"What happened earlier?" Jay asked and Evie sighed, running a hand through her hair.

"She began to panic as we climbed the stairs to Godmother's office. She thought she was going to be expelled or something. She collapsed at the top so Doug and I-" Evie sniffed loudly and Doug took over for her.

"Godmother said Mal's been under too much magic. The concealment potion was a strong one, and that along with the stress of pregnancy and school, she's exhausted."

"And you two, why are you here?" Jay nodded along to Doug and Evie's explanations but he was still glaring at the pirate.

"Harry and I are the newest transfers from the Isle," Gil told the room. "Got here last night and today we were supposed to be meeting our student guide who I guess was going to be Mal and then we found out about the situation."

"Wait, you didn't know about the baby?" Carlos asked in disbelief.

"The letter we sent was destroyed at sea before he could read it," Evie told him.

"I'm right here," Harry growled. "What was the plan? Were you going to hide the baby until the day you went into labour? If I didn't write to you or get transferred would I ever know? You stupid girl," he seethed at the sleeping Mal before turning on his heel and storming from the room.

Gil got up to follow his friend but a dark warning look from Harry before he slammed the door made him stay seated.

"You're taking the news surprisingly well," Lonnie observed as she sat down next to Gil as Evie quietly told Jay what Godmother had said.

"I'm not the one becoming a father at eighteen," Gil joked but he sobered up when Evie began to sniff again as she climbed into her boyfriend's lap. "Look, we just spent six months on a ship, together twenty-four hours a day. He may act like he's the worst but he spent every waking hour talking about her."

Jay leant on the hearth as Carlos took the final space on the sofa, all listening to Gil.

"He is head over heels in love with that girl. We heard a rumour that she had disappeared from the Isle and it broke his heart. Spent weeks plotting on how to find her or what he would do if she had, I don't know, been kidnapped or something," Gil chuckled.

"She's been the same," Evie said softly. "Loves him completely but she was beginning to worry about you. We hadn't heard anything about your ship in weeks."

"I still have friends on the Isle who have been keeping tabs on the ship but no-one had any info on it," Carlos told the pirate.

"I think she thought you'd died at sea. She's been having nightmares for a few weeks," Jay told them what Mal had made him swear to secrecy.

"We docked in a neighbouring Isle just inside the barrier to restock and trade goods. When will she be well again?" Gil asked.

"Give her today and tonight to sleep it off and she'll be back in class tomorrow but without any magic," Evie said.

"The schools going to find out. She's going to go from normal seventeen-year-old to a five-months pregnant one in the space of a weekend," Jay sighed warily.

"Before that happens, I think she needs to sit down and talk to Harry. He deserves to know the full truth and no one can do that like Mal," Lonnie suggested.

"I'll go find him now. Doug why don't you, Carlos and Gil head to afternoon lessons. Evie and Lonnie can stay and watch over Mal. We'll have lunch here in the room but it's back to normality later," Jay ordered.

The friends nodded and began to chat as Jay slipped out of the room in search of the pirate. Lonnie and Carlos began to play twenty questions with Gil as Evie and Doug spoke in hushed whispers as Mal slept peacefully in her bed behind them.


	3. Chapter 3

_Part three_

Jay had stuck to his word and as soon as he had left the dorm room he was flitting about the school in an attempt to find the Pirate. Not only did he know the man from the tidbits of information Mal had let slip but Harry didn't know the school grounds like Jay did and so the ex-thief found him with relative ease.

The pirate had holed himself up on one of the smaller practise rooms in the gym, his sword unsheathed as he used it in tandem with his hook on one of the numerous hay-filled practice dummies the fencing club used that had been left in a rough circle in the middle of the room. Jay stayed tucked into the shadows as he watched the pirate vent his frustrations out on the dummies, stood in the centre of the ring with a gleam in his eyes.

His hook would plunder into the soft belly of the mannequin as his sword would slash the fabric over the back simultaneously before using the sole of his boot to kick the dummy away so he could attack the next one.

If Jay had not been raised on the Isle, he would have flinched at the way the hay split out of the ripped seams of the fabric. It was easy to imagine blood and guts instead of the hay, as it would have been on the Isle.

Harry's fighting technique was worlds away from those on the mainland. He fought to kill and keep someone down whereas someone like Ben would simply fight to subdue the attacker. Jay whistled lowly when Harry spun on his heel and rammed his blade through two torsos that were lined up one behind the other. He knew from personal experience how tightly packed the hay was and how much strength it took to pierce one, let alone two cleanly.

Harry was huffing and sweating slightly when his head snapped up and he saw Jay emerge from the doorway, an impressed look on his face.

"Whadya want?" Harry growled, tugging on the handle of his sword and slipping it back into his belt. He huffed and the unruly curls that had fallen into his eyes moved back so that Jay could see the dark look the pirate was giving him.

The ex-thief laughed and crossed the gym to stand by the ring of ruined dummies, slinging an arm over the shoulders of the closest one.

"I know you don't wanna talk about it, that's why you're down here ruining school property," Jay began, holding out his hand when Harry's mouth opened to give him a sharp remark. "But this isn't something you can work out with a sword and violence."

Harry's knees seemed to give out from under him and he sunk to the floor, his hook clanging as he dropped it to his side. The energy in the room seemed to leave as Harry took a shuddering breath, running his hands through his hair in a manner that made it seem like it was the most strenuous thing he had done lately.

Jay dropped to a crouch but remained his distance, keeping silent so that the pirate was in charge of the ordeal.

"She's a bitch," was the first thing he said and Jay bristled at the insult but didn't react. He tried to put himself in the pirate's shoes and he knew that he would probably take the news badly at first too.

"When I left she told me that we should stop the thing we had going on cause it would be too painful," Harry mocked Mal's voice but Jay could see he was verging on tears. "Said we were still young, had our whole lives ahead of us and that maybe we shouldn't bog ourselves down this early on but..."

Jay just nodded despite the fact Harry didn't look up from his scuffed boots.

"A baby. A fuckin' child."

Another silent nod.

"I'm eighteen, she's barely seventeen. What did she think was gonna happen, what if neither of us got off the Isle? Or when she left and I was at sea? Did she think she'd raise it alone? What if I hadn't been allowed to leave for Auradon?"

The questions the Pirate was raising we serious questions that Jay had thought of himself and when he'd voiced them Mal had broken down into uncharacteristic tears and he felt as though he was scolding her like a parent would or should have.

"My dad's a tosser and her mother's downright mental. What if we end up the same way? Just like our parents raisin' a baby out of wedlock on a godforsaken island where we will be bloody shunned for havin' sex," Harry grumbled and then he steeled himself and looked at Jay.

"These are all questions I've had myself but I can't answer them for you. This is something you and Mal need to talk about and deal with and you know that all of us will be there to help you but the pair of you have to step up to the responsibility. A child will be born in roughly four months and that child needs a good start in life, whether that's with you and Mal or not, it's up to you," Jay said and the two boys looked at each other.

Harry's smirk was watered down from his usual snake-mean one when he said: "I'm 'fraid that if I talk to 'er alone I will either throttle 'er or kiss 'er."

"Would that be so bad?" Jay asked as they helped each other to their feet. Jay went over to the supply cupboard and pulled out a training sword, as well as wheeling out several more practise dummies.

"Killing or kissing 'er?" Harry replied with a grin and the two began to fight the dummies, working out their frustrations in the best way they knew how.

* * *

_16:38 pm_

Carlos hurried back from his last lesson of the day, quickly excusing himself from the numerous people who wanted to ask him something or just talk.

_Why does everyone want to chat all the time? _he thought as he rounded down the main corridor and all but sprinted up the stairs to the dorms. Usually, he didn't mind but today of all days he had somewhere to be and everyone seemed to want to delay him.

He smiled tightly at those who said hello and tried to start a conversation but his earphones were in his ears despite not playing any music and he used them as an excuse not to stop and chat. He was determined to get back to Mal, going as far as ducking behind a decorative vase when his animal husbandry professor came out of nowhere. He snickered as he watched the old man pull several reluctant students into conversations, blocking the hallway.

Carlos took the next set of stairs three steps at a time, winding himself slightly but he pushed through the stitch in his side and collided head-on with someone, sending the pair of them sprawling on the landing of the girls' dormitory floor.

"Ow," Jane complained, rubbing her forehead where it had collided with Carlos' chin.

The white-haired boy blinked a few times, dazed at the sensation of his teeth rattling as he carefully got back to his feet, a little dizzy as he stood up. The back of his head was stinging as he'd hit it on the floorboards and his jaw hurt.

"Sorry," he mumbled, realising he had bitten his tongue when Jane's head had bumped his mouth closed meaning it sounded more like "sorwy," as blood trickled between his lips. "I don fewl well," he said suddenly as Jane stood up and rushed to his side as he swayed on the spot.

"Oh gods above Carlos!" she cried when he lent his full weight on to her smaller frame. "I was just looking for you as well. Trust us to literally bump into each other," she said with a smile which dropped when she realised Carlos was bleeding and barely seeing straight.

"Come on, I'll get you back," she told him reassuringly, practically dragging him.

"Mal," he said and Jane nodded.

"I know, that's why I was coming to find you. My mother told me what's going on as she thought you could all use the support," Jane told Carlos as his head bobbed forward. "Literally," she joked as they reached Mal and Evie's door.

Using the toe of her shoe, Jane kicked the door a few times until Lonnie opened it a fraction, gasping when she saw Carlos.

"What the hell happened?" she cried, wrenching the door open and rushing forward, wrapping Carlos' spare arm around her neck, helping Jane carry him to the girls' sofa. "Evie just went for a quick shower," she explained, staring wide-eyed down at Carlos.

"Oh, he's fine, we just bumped into each other. Just dizzy and he bit his tongue I suspect. Nothing a few spells won't cure," Jane reassured her friend, pulling out her phone and scrolling through until she found the app she kept her spells catalogued in.

"Don't do any magic near Mal," Lonnie said, putting her body between Mal's bed and Jane. "I mean she's totally fine, just, doesn't like other people's magic," Lonnie bluffed quickly.

"It's alright, my mother told me," Jane said, waving her fingers over Carlos' head and jaw. The soft sensation of her fingertips over his slight stubble made the boy jump and he cried out. "Your headache should be gone in about five minutes and your tongue should have stopped bleeding."

Carlos simply nodded and closed his eyes once more, settling back into the cushions of the sofa. Lonnie sat down next to him as Jane sat on the loveseat opposite.

"I brought you and Evie your chemistry work. You both missed the class so I thought it was the least I could do," Jane began, pulling two small booklets out of her messenger bag and handing them to Lonnie.

"Thanks, we've been here all afternoon," Lonnie used her head to indicate towards the sleeping Mal.

"My mother said she should be awake soon to have dinner but she'll probably fall back asleep straight after that," Jane informed her as the door opened and Evie walked through with Gil and Doug, all carrying plates of sandwiches, salads and finger foods. The trio bristled and froze upon seeing Jane who told them she already knew.

Evie's chest fell as she sighed deeply, setting the food down on her desk. She was about to say something when Mal stirred in her bed and rolled over.

The blue-haired girl rushed to her side, slipping her hand in hers. "Hey, you hungry?" she asked, motioning for Doug to bring over some sandwiches. Mal nodded sleepily and Jane came over to help Evie set the tired girl up against her pillows.

"Where's Harry?" Mal whispered, her throat feeling as though she had cotton wool stuffed down it.

"He's on his way. He's been in the gym with Jay all afternoon," Lonnie called out. She was busy telling Gil what had happened to Carlos.

Mal nodded, munching half-heartedly on a sandwich.

"Come on, you're eating for two don't forget so we need to fatten you up, like a Christmas ham," Doug said encouragingly and his eyes widened at the glare his girlfriend and Jane sent him. "Maybe not like ham," he said hastily but Mal laughed quietly all the same.

* * *

_11:23 pm_

Evie kissed Doug's lips softly in the doorframe as he left her room for the night, well after lights out but neither cared.

Jay was huddled under a mountain of towels and coats, his blankets underneath him as a makeshift mattress at the foot of Mal's bed as he had refused to leave when Carlos was still passed out on the girls' sofa.

Evie had said goodnight to Lonnie and Jane shortly after dinner and directed Gil to his new room as Harry had disappeared once more but Jay told her not to worry about it. The foursome was finally alone in the dorm room and if she didn't dwell on Mal's large bump, Evie could almost pretend they were just having a normal sleepover.

Evie kissed Mal's forehead and then Carlos' before saying goodnight to Jay, not wanting to disrupt the makeshift bed he had made before climbing into her own, turning her bedside light off with a worried knaw of her lower lip.

Mal would be well enough to get out of bed when the sunrise came and she knew that everyone needed to sit down and talk things through, especially Mal and Harry.

By the time Evie's eyes closed, she had worried herself half-sick thinking of all of the ways it could go wrong from here on out, both with Mal and Harry's relationship and come Monday when the school found out.


	4. Chapter 4

_11:08 pm - Sunday night_

Godmother set down her reading glasses and waved her hand, opening her office door without a sound to reveal the pirate who had been knocking.

"Come in," she said softly, getting up from her desk and motioning to the two armchairs in front of a roaring fireplace. She had been expecting him for the better part of the evening. Harry closed the door and crossed the office, unbuckling his weapons belt and resting it on the floorboards by his feet.

The two sunk silently into their chairs, both lost in watching the flames flicker. Eventually, Godmother held out a crystal glass and Harry took it silently, gulping down the liquid.

He coughed when he realized he'd been given a tumbler of whiskey but Godmother ignored him and sipped her own drink.

"I don't wanna talk about it," Harry warned and Godmother nodded.

"Understandable but you should know this isn't that uncommon here on Auradon," she told him as another series of knocks punctured the quiet room's atmosphere.

"What do you mean? How many teenage pregnancies has this school seen?" he said sarcastically and Godmother sighed.

The door to the office opened and closed quietly and the King drew up another chair to sit between the two.

"This is King Ben. He's a senior like you and-" Godmother began before Ben held up a hand to silence her.

"I'm just Ben. This is a unique situation. You've moved to another country, left the world you knew behind. I know you transferred with a close friend but if you need other people to talk to, I am a teenage boy first before I am a King."

"I informed Ben about the situation when I first found out and he's been keeping an eye on Mal for the last few weeks. Making sure she's doing alright," Godmother said and Harry nodded tightly in the King's direction.

"Just so you know, couples are married or at least engaged by eighteen or so in Auradon and babies are the next step. Most new parents here and just out of school," the King said as he poured himself a drink.

"So this is all just an act," Harry began. "This goody-two-shoes act is all a performance?" He gestured to his drink in emphasis. "We get shunned for being villainous but the same things happen here too?"

Godmother and Ben shook their heads. "The legal drinking age in Auradon is eighteen. Everyone in this room can legally drink and I'm not sure about you but I can't think of a better reason to have a glass than this," Ben sighed, sinking into his chair.

Godmother turned in her seat to look at the pirate.

"Auradon values rules and laws as a way to keep the peace. There will always be some who still engage in immoral activities like on the Isle but we do not encourage them," she explained.

"So the underage sex thing and not being married or remotely close to being in a relationship is going to be fine. Is she going to still be fine then? You know, be able to get a job and stuff," Harry scoffed but the worry in his voice was evident.

Ben shook his head. "We know you care for her deeply and that this child will be loved. It's obvious to see and so anyone who says anything untoward is out of line and will be punished within the rules of the school."

"What are you talkin' about love for? I've only known about this goddamn baby for twelve bloody hours!" Harry raged and Godmother set her hand on his knee to make him look at her.

He glared at the contact and then looked into her eyes.

"A blind man would be able to see that you and Mal have something special, something deeper than just a teenage fling. This baby is a blessing for the pair of you and regardless of how you decided to proceed, that child will be loved by the pair of you, whether you raise it or not," she soothed.

Harry sniffed. "She wants to put it up for adoption?"

Godmother shook her head. "I don't know. It's simply an option that's open to the pair of you but you need to discuss it together, like the parents you soon will be."

Harry knocked back the rest of his drink and held out a hand which the King shook.

Without saying anything else, Harry left the office with a heavier heart than he had entered.


	5. Chapter 5

_Monday morning_

He couldn't think straight.

Harry had paced around the empty school until the moon hung high in the night sky. Only when his eyelids grew heavy and he found himself blinking slowly did he retire to his room, careful not to wake up Gil. He tossed and turned for another hour or so and rose again shortly before the dawn broke over the school.

Harry changed his clothes in the dark as Gil continued to snore softly into his pillow. He let himself out of his room and impulsively turned left and down the corridor towards the staircase.

The castle was calm and Harry felt as though he was the only person in the world. With a lot on his mind, he wandered down through the classroom corridors, through the deserted library, and around the kitchens until the kitchen staff trickled in at around five am to begin making the breakfast buffet.

After half an hour of aimless wandering, Harry found himself sat on the bleachers surrounding the playing fields as the rising sun blinded him in ruby red rays.

"Good morning," a quiet voice broke his peace and it took his Isle upbringing to stop him from jumping out of his skin.

He shielded his eyes from the dawn with his hand and saw a slender, small figure making their way to his side.

"Sorry, I didn't want to disturb you but I saw you out here and thought you'd want someone to vent or at least talk to ... you know, about the situation," the girl said, hovering a few feet from him.

"Bloody hell, does everyone already know?" he growled, his voice rough and he realized it was the first time he had spoken for hours.

"No, Mal is one of my best friends so its not been hard to notice that something had been going on. But my mother told me," she said. "I'm Jane by the way."

Harry ignored her outstretched hand and shifted over on the bench and Jane took it as an invitation to sit down beside him.

"I love coming out here when the sun is just rising. Really clears my head and puts difficult things into perspective," Jane lay back, resting on the bleachers behind her so she could bask in the morning dawn.

"S'not helping me much," Harry huffed. "Me heads been spinnin' since I found out about all this."

Jane looked over at the pirate as he hunched over, his elbows perched on his knees as he stared out over the field.

"She's going to give the baby up for adoption," Jane said and Harry stood up sharply.

"WHAT! What if I wanna raise the baby?" he demanded and Jane's dark eyebrow cocked. "Did she think that maybe I still wanna be with her and have a family?"

"Do you? Want to raise the baby with her?" she asked as Harry slowly sat back down with a thoughtful expression.

The pirate ran a hand over his face with a groan. "Yeah. I want to be there for it. Want to have her in my life again."

Jane gasped and beamed, forgetting who she was with as she wrapped her arms around Harry's shoulders to squeeze him tightly. Harry stiffened until Jane released him with a bright smile.

"See, now you know what you want," Jane smiled brightly, dazzling the pirate who couldn't seem to muster up the stregnth to even crack a grin.

Harry's eyebrows came together. "You just told me she puttin' the baby up for adoption. She's not keeping it."

Jane waved her hand as if dismissing the notion. "That was a little white lie. But now you know what you want and what you should talk to Mal about. You want to be a father."

Harry glared at the girl and she shrank backwards. "What time is it?"

Jane gulped and checked her wristwatch. "Nearly seven. The breakfast buffet will open in half an hour."

The pirate nodded and stood up, running his tongue over his teeth whilst Jane got to her feet warily.

"Where is she?"

"Her room. They've all stayed the night so you might have to get through Evie first," Jane told him. The unlikely pair began to walk beside each other towards the school. "I'll lead the way."

* * *

Mal's eyes opened slowly and she groaned as she rubbed the sleep out of her lashes. She still felt terrible but it was manageable.

With slow and precise movements, the purple-haired girl peeled back her blankets and swung her legs out over the mattress.

Mal brought a hand down to rest on the bump that she could no longer hide. It freaked her out to see it but it felt natural at the same time. She rubbed at her skin as she climbed out of bed with a groan.

Groggy and now feeling the full effects of her pregnancy, Mal shuffled around the dark dorm room silently so that she didn't wake her friends. She was in desperate need of a shower.

After gathering her shower caddy and dressing gown, Mal let herself out of the dorm room and walked down the empty corridor to the girls' bathrooms.

The bathroom was lit by the dawn and the golden taps and mirrors seemed to sparkle in the early morning light.

Mal headed straight for the showers and went to her usual cubicle, hanging up her dressing gown and turning the water up to the hottest she could handle.

The showers at Auradon prep were all in their own little rooms, with a bench, multiple hooks, a full-length mirror and the walk-in shower.

After two days of feeling as though she had been hit by a bus, Mal sighed happily, content to be up and moving. She lathered her hair in too much of her fragrant shampoo and slathered her body wash over her like she was washing away the plague.

Under the warm spray, Mal ran a hand over her stomach and nearly fell to the floor when she felt a flicker of movement under her fingertips.

"Hello birdie," she murmured as she shut off the faucet and went to sit down on the wooden bench, looking at her naked reflection in the mirror.

Mal strained to hear anything but it was still so early that no-one was even awake yet on the girls' corridor, let alone getting ready for the day like she was.

"Hello birdie," she repeated a little louder and a pressure to her palm made the girl jump.

"Are you kicking? Are you awake birdie?" she asked and the baby kicked once more at the sound of its mother's voice.

Mal's eyes misted over as she really looked at herself. Her purple hair was dark and dripping but she was too focused on the protruding belly and the movement that could be seen. It was the first time Mal truly felt as though she was having a baby.

_I'm going to be a mother._

The door to the bathrooms opened and Mal sniffed, hurriedly wrapping her wet hair into a towel and shrugging on her gown. She swore when she realised she would need to find a bigger dressing gown over the next few months.

"Oh gods," she sighed to herself as she exited the shower cubicle and scampered out of the bathrooms back to her dorm room. It hadn't occurred to the girl that she would need an entirely new wardrobe and things for the baby itself.

The sudden onslaught of tasks and worries made her head spin as she let herself back into her dorm room. Jay and Carlos were still out cold but Evie was sat at her desk, using her sewing machine.

At Mal's entrance, Evie ripped the material out from under the foot of the machine and stuffed it into her draw with frantic movements.

"Morning sleepy head," Evie said and Mal frowned.

"What was that?" she asked, crossing the room to sit on Evie's bed.

Evie's cheeks darkened and she avoided her best friend's eyes. "Nothing. Just scraps I'm practising some fancier stitches on, just forget about it. How was your shower?" she said, trying to change the subject.

Mal made a fist with her hand and her acid green magic shot out, pulling the drawer open and retrieving the material before Evie could snatch it back as it floated between the two girls in midair.

"I'm sorry," was the first thing Evie said as a onesie the size of a newborn floated between the friends. It was a pale yellow with bumblebees on the knees and a half-finished embroidered bird on the tummy.

"It's beautiful E," Mal whispered, her eyes glazing over it again as her hormones raced around her bloodstream. "Why would you be sorry?"

Evie's shoulders slumped. "I didn't know if you knew what you were doing after the birth. I thought that if you were giving the baby up then you wouldn't want to see any of the designs."

"There's more?"

Evie sniffed and smiled. "I think I've made more tiny baby clothes than I know what to do with. I ran out of hiding spaces so Doug has a load under his bed which has been weird hiding from his room-mate. And I hope you won't kill me but I've been making adjustments to most of your winter and some of your spring clothes," she said bashfully, "You know, cause I thought by the time you're at six or so months, it would be the Christmas break and you wouldn't be able to hide the bump anymore and then the baby's due in spring so..."

Mal held her arms open in an invitation for a hug and Evie joined her on the bed, wrapping her arms around her best friend and holding her close. "Thank you. I truly don't know what I would do without you."

"Probably have a terrible fashion sense," Evie joked but she smiled and nodded, knowing exactly what Mal was trying to say.

"Here, feel this," Mal ordered, taking the sewer's hand and placing it on her bump where there had been movement earlier. "Good morning birdie."

At the sound of her voice, the baby kicked and moved. Evie swore and tears began to fall down her cheeks. Her outburst had woken the boys who scrambled to sit up and looked for the danger.

"Oh, my gods! Boys! Feel this!"

Jay and Carlos shared a look and they were at the girls' sides in a heartbeat. Evie grabbed their hands and placed them near her own.

"Hello birdie," Mal and Evie said simultaneously and the baby moved once more.

"Woah!" Carlos looked down at his hand in awe.

"Holy shit!" Jay jumped a foot in the air and gingerly put his hand back on Mal's stomach, only to rip it off when the baby fluttered again.

"Amazing right!" Evie's cheeks were wet with happy tears.

Mal laughed hard at her friends' reactions. She grabbed them and pulled them closer to her so she could hug them.

"Thank you for being here," she sighed happily as her friends told her of their love for her.

The four friends sat in silence until every so often, one of them would say hello to the baby and it would move or flutter under their hands.

Their peace lasted for twenty minutes until a knock at the door and a voice broke the happy atmosphere.

"Mal!"


	6. Chapter 6

"Mal!"

The loud knocks echoed around the dorm room as no-one dared to move. Mal quickly retied the robe of the dressing gown as she had loosened it to allow her friends to feel her bump.

"Please! This is the one time I promise you won't be disappointed for opening the door this early," the voice called out once more and Jay slowly got to his feet, crossing the room to unlock the door.

He opened it a sliver, just enough so that he could see who was calling this early in the morning. Jane smiled brightly back at the boy and he opened the door for her.

"Good morning," Jane began and when she entered the room, she turned back to look at someone still stood in the corridor out of the door frame. "Come on."

"Morning Janey. Who are you talk-" Carlos greeted her happily but trailed off when Harry Hook's broad frame blocked the majority of the doorway.

The pirate looked as though he hadn't slept which was understandable to those in the room. His dark eyes were brooding and staring straight at Mal who fought the urge to shrink under his intense gaze.

"How about you walk me to breakfast?" Jane prompted Carlos and Jay, both of whom were stood with straight backs and balled fists. "Like, how about you do it now boys," her serious tone rivalled her mothers and both boys left, arm in arm with her as she rambled about their classes.

"I'll go and see if Doug and Gil are awake. Classes start at nine," Evie told Harry quietly, gathering her school bag and coat up as she left the room.

Mal shifted on the mattress and eventually stood up, feeling more confident if she could move. The nervous energy made her pace in front of her bed as Harry watched her quietly.

"I know this is a shit situation," Mal began, holding up her hand to make sure that Harry didn't interrupt her. She had a feeling that once she started to talk, she would find it difficult to stop.

"I love you. That's the first thing I need to say. Should have told you back on the Isle but I was a coward. I love you and I love this baby and with or without your support, I am going to raise this child," she said in a rush.

Harry swallowed thickly. "I'm in love with you too." He sat on the loveseat and looked at Mal to continue, knowing he would get his chance but she needed time. The girl sniffed, realising her hormones were getting the better of her and she was beginning to cry.

"I was terrified of what to do. There are so many things that could have happened; we could have never left the Isle. Your boat could have sunk. My mother could have found. I could have lost it. So many damn possibilities but none of them have happened. We're safe here in Auradon, we're healthy and we're together, in love, in a place where we can raise a child with all of the love it deserves. I want to have this baby and raise it with you, like a proper family."

Mal's nose was running and there were tears glistening on her cheeks as she stood in the open gap of Harry's knees, her hands coming to softly rest on his shoulders. He was eye level with her naval and after releasing a deep breath, the pirate rested his cheek on her bump.

Mal sobbed as Harry wrapped his arms around her waist, hugging her and the bump.

"If this had happened any other way, I mean, if I hadn't been transferred, I woulda still come for you Mal. I would have travelled to the ends of the Earth to make sure I was by your side," he whispered into her skin.

"Been pacin' round all night. Wondering what to do ya know," he told her and she nodded despite him not being able to see. Her fingers threaded through his hair as he continued with a wobbling voice. "That nosy one, Jane, she found me on the pitch this morning and helped me think straight. I wanna be a dad. Wanna do everything my father didn't and if that means we drop out or stay in school and raise the baby here in this bloody dorm room then I don't care. Wanna do what's right."

Mal sunk to her knees, slower and with more support from the pirate than she would have needed six months prior. Now, the estranged couple were looking into each other's eyes, both crying as they simply looked at each other.

"I love you."

"I love you."

Three words but they seemed to ease the tension off of both of their shoulders. Mal could breath normally, finally after all of these months, knowing that whatever happened, she would be alright with her friends and her love by her side.

Harry pressed a kiss to her lips, softer than he had ever done before. "Are you going to any of your classes today?"

Mal wiped her wet cheeks with a grin. "I don't care what anyone says or thinks anymore. I'm through with hiding this." She brought Harry's hand down to the swell of her stomach, where there had been movement before. "I love you Harry Hook and this baby we have created."

At the sound of her voice, like it had been all morning, the life growing inside of her fluttered and moved under its father's palm.

"Bloody hell, we're gonna be parents," was all the pirate said before kissing the girl soundly until they were breathless. The nagging questions he had voiced to Jay disappeared in an instant. Harry didn't care about what could've happened, he only cared about what was going to happen.

"Come on, let's go to breakfast and then I'll show you to your first class," she told him as they broke apart and he helped her stand.


	7. Chapter 7

_Monday_

_The dining hall_

Mal had rooted around in the walk-in closet and stumbled across the clothes Evie had tailored and hidden away. She retrieved a simple stretchy grey dress, her buttery leather jack and her favourite thigh-high boots, knowing that every eye would be on her today as the last time anyone besides her friends had seen her, she'd had a flat stomach and was now five months pregnant.

The shock still hadn't worn off for either of the parents. Mal's skin crawled as they left her dorm and she couldn't see her feet, feeling anxious as though she had forgotten to spell the bump away, whereas Harry kept touching her sides as her skin swelled into the round bump, almost as if he had to physically feel it in order to remind himself this was really happening.

The walk through the dormitory corridors was uneventful and they didn't encounter anyone. Mal didn't know whether that was better or worse. As the walked towards the grand oak doors of the hall, Mal told Harry about her first week at the school, knowing he was just as nervous as she was but for a multitude of reasons.

The enchanted doors swung open by their own accord as the couple approached them and the soft noise of the breakfasting school broke through their conversation. It wasn't long for the noise to die, however, as one person saw Mal's figure and a flurry of whispers replaced the chatter about school work and small talk.

There were multiple types of table setups; some small round ones, others with high backed chairs, some could fit twenty people and others were booths, dotted about the vast room. Everyone turned in their seats and watched the pair weave through the tables as Harry placed his hand on the small of Mal's back, leading her through the hall as every eye watched them approach the buffet line. He wished he had his hook so that he could use it if needed but it was a weapon and he had been forbidden to wear it in the corridors, public spaces and classrooms of the school.

"Can I have a cheese and ham croissant toasted please," Mal asked the lady working at the savoury station. Harry loaded his plate with a full English, never straying too far from Mal's side as the dining hall slowly gained volume. The shock wore off quicker than either was expecting and by the time Mal had her breakfast on her plate, no one was paying them much attention.

The unofficial table for the VKs and their friends was at the back, tucked onto an elevated platform with long benches that was somewhat removed from every other table.

Evie, Doug and Carlos seemed to have only just sat down as none of them had made much of a dent in their respective breakfasts. Lonnie, Jane and the remaining two boys were nearly done as Mal and Harry sat down, side by side with hard expressions.

"Welcome to Auradon Prep Harry," Doug held up his coffee cup, repeating the toast he had made when Gil had sat down. "And welcome to the open Bird."

The friends followed suit, lifting their glasses or just his fork in Carlos' case, to the new transfer and the baby that was finally on view.

"Wasn't expecting them to stop whispering so quickly, to be honest," Mal told the table as everyone settled in to eat. Evie and Lonnie shared a grin.

"They were already informed. A few well-placed gossips with the correct information spread the news in about ten minutes," Evie told her best friend

"We thought it would be best if they knew before they saw and you know what gossip is like, some idiot would think it was the King's baby or something equally ridiculous," Lonnie grinned.

* * *

_December - Three or so months until the baby_

November froze over into a snow-covered December before anyone really had a chance to realise. Mal no longer hid her pregnancy and had been supported by everyone she had encountered. From her teachers to princesses she passes in the corridor and random people simply offering their congratulations in class, she blossomed once more in her academics without the stress of the secrecy.

Harry and Gil had also slotted into school life with ease. Both were good contenders on the swim team and had been aided by the King in setting up a boating club after school. Gil and Carlos bonded over animals and other strange things and were as thick as thieves by the time the first flurries of snow fell.

Lonnie and Jay became an official couple as Jane began to plan and organise a small Christmas party for her friends, which turned into the joint birthday of Gil and Doug who were both born just after the holiday.

Mal's magic lessons with Godmother became a mixture of magical lessons and sessions in which the young parents-to-be would sit with the matriarch and plan, discuss and talk about their future. By the time classes ended for the winter break, it had been decided that, with the King and the Headmistress' support, the VKs and their friends would move out of the main school and into one of the smaller accommodation outbuildings that had been standing empty on the schools' grounds for a few decades.

"My grandparents used to lease it out as family accommodation to the faculty members with children but then another wing was built in the castle and that became the staff family wing, so to speak," Ben had told them one day as they bundled up into one of the limos and drove the ten or so minutes down a gravel path that cut through the schools' forest and arrived in front of a large brick house with ivy dripping from the sides and several stories.

The King led the way through the snowfall towards the house's front door, unlocking it and letting them gather in the entrance hallway. The schools' cleaning staff had kept the place homely and dust-free and there it was still furnished and looked as though they could move in there and then.

"There are eight bedrooms, six bathrooms, the kitchen, living spaces and a basement which had been renovated into a movie and games type space. It's pretty cool actually. I was thinking of moving out to here when I graduated but it would have been too large for just me. This way, you're all together, close to the main town if you got a car, close enough to the school and technically still on school grounds so that if you ever needed any kind of help, someone could come and be here within a few minutes," the King said as he showed them around the house.

"Thank you," Mal hugged the young royal with unshed tears in her eyes once the tour of the house had finished and everyone agreed it was perfect for them. "For everything you have done for us. Bringing us here, supporting me through this pregnancy, getting us a freaking house!"

"To King Ben!" the friends had cheered and the royal had blushed a crimson red.

"It's the least I could do."

With housing for after their graduation sorted, and jobs in the towns for Jay, Gil, Lonnie and Jane, they focused on relaxing as Christmas approached. Collectively, they decided on only one gift per person with everyone chipping in to buy it.

Mal and Harry received a beautiful hand-carved cot and all of the clothes Evie had tailored. The seamstress got a new sewing machine. Carlos, a kitten that had been found in one of the schools' farms' barns. Jay, Lonnie and Gil had all received new fencing swords and sheaths. Jane, a new yearly planner and Doug had dropped down on one knee and asked Evie to wear his family ring, giving it to her as a promise ring which she accepted happily.

The Christmas holiday ended and the group relaxed until New Year's Eve which they celebrated the birthdays of Doug and Gil, during which the nine friends (bar Mal) drank some wine, chimed in the New Year and kissed as the clock struck midnight.

* * *

_January - two or so months until the baby_

By the end of the first week in January, Jay had learnt to drive and decisions about names became the most talked about thing for the friends. They had all remained behind at the school rather than travel home and slowly, other students trickled back to campus.

Harry took Mal sailing around the schools' lake with Gil and Carlos one chilly morning. They ended up just floating on the smooth, glassy lake top tossing names about.

"Juliet."

"No."

"Simon."

"Gods above Carlos, no."

"James."

"No!"

"Gillian?"

No name that had been suggested had yet to strike either parent. They weren't one hundred per cent certain about the gender of the baby but some, like Evie, suggest only boys names as she was convinced it was to be a boy. Jay, on the other hand, sided with Mal and had only been putting girls names forward.

By the time classes had started back up in the middle of January, Jane had decided on writing down each and every suggestion on her tablet so that Mal and Harry had a list to look back upon if they were well and truly stuck.

Other students, staff and the faculty eventually were giving the girl their own ideas for names and she had ended up with over six hundred to whittle down into a manageable list. One afternoon whilst visiting her mother, Jane had asked the headmistress if she had any suggestions. The name her mother had murmured as she filled in some forms made Jane's grin double and she placed it at the top of the list, confident that the parents-to-be would like it just as much as she did.

Mal and Harry were the only ones who seemed to not be suggesting names. The couple continued to walk to classes together and eat their dinners separately sometimes, like the rest of the couples within their friendship group would do occasionally. The pirate and the witch would go for long walks around the schools sprawling campus, testing themselves to see if the could walk the perimeter but as the weeks shifted from January to February and Mal's bump dropped more with each passing day, their long walks became long baths or quiet evenings in the library in one of the secluded corners, just reading together or completing school work.

* * *

_February - one or so month left until the baby_

_"_So, you think you're ready?" Evie asked Mal as she walked with her friend to the wing of the grand castle used exclusively for exams. In three weeks time, the purple-haired girl would move into the house on the outskirts of the campus with the rest of her friends and a and wait out the rest of her pregnancy on bed rest.

"For this exam or motherhood?" Mal replied as they joined the long queue to enter the exam hall in which they would sit their history paper with the rest of the school population taking the advanced exams.

"Either. Both?" Evie shrugged, twiddling her pencil between her fingers. "I'm not sure I'm ready for god-motherhood."

Mal laughed and smiled, leaning her head against her friend's shoulder. "You trust me. You, Lonnie and Jane, will be the best godmothers to this kid. And the boys will be great godfathers."

"Six godparents. This kid is going to never touch the ground," Lonnie joked from behind them. Neither had noticed her join the queue.

"Well, they say it takes a village," Mal said, shrugging, knowing that without their friends, herself and Harry wouldn't feel so relaxed about the arrival of the baby.

"This baby is just the unfortunate practise one for the rest of us. When Doug and I eventually start a family, I'll have made all the mistakes with the bird and not with my own. Shame really, for the bird I mean," Evie joked and the trio laughed.

They were nearing the front of the queue by this point. "Did you hear back from that property manager?" Lonnie asked quickly, knowing that they had under a minute to talk before entering the hall and sitting the exam.

Evie grinned. "Yeah. We've got the boutique. Godmother helped us put a down payment on it last night and its ready for us to open by September."

Mal and Evie had decided to open a small boutique with Evie's designs in one of the towns near the school. Mal would help her friend run the store and it was flexible enough that she would be able to do it when the baby was born. The lease on the shop wouldn't start until the baby had turned six months old already.

"Come on now girls, and good luck," their history teacher interrupted them as she let them into the exam hall. It was the first of ten exams for the girls. "You'll do great!"

* * *

_March_

With the exams over, the friends relaxed. The began packing their rooms away and Jay made trips to the house in the car he had been fixing up since Christmas, with the boxes. Godmother threw a baby shower for Mal and Harry which came as a total surprise to the couple.

The enjoyed the kitchens' famous celebration cake, played games and watched their friends pin pacifiers onto a drawing of Mal and Harry as babies, drawn by Gil who was an artist in his spare time when he wasn't sailing or practising his swordsmanship.

Numerous people around the castle, from Ben's own parents to the schools' staff members, gifted the couple their own previously used baby items which their own children had grown out of. They now had bottles and diapers, toys, books, food and cosmetic items for the bird, as well as sweet personal gifts like stuffed toys, embroidered blankets and a record player with numerous records from the music teacher at the school.

The tenth of March was the official move-out/ move-in date for the friends. The last of their possessions were bundled into the trunk of Jay's car and he shuttled everyone to the house which they had renamed _The Isle _so that now they would have something positive to associate with it.

The eight bedrooms were split over three floors, with three bedrooms on the first floor, two on the second and the remaining three on the third, in the attic of the house. Everyone had large double beds and dressers or wardrobes, mirrors and storage, with each quickly making their room their own within hours of moving in.

Jay, Lonnie and Jane were in the three rooms on the first floor. Jay and Lonnie decided that having their own separate rooms would be better for their relationship but would share their beds for most of the week. Jane didn't mind sharing the floor with them as they were a considerate couple and kept the bathroom clean and tidy.

Up the staircase once more was the two couples in arguably the two largest rooms. Evie and Doug had an en-suite whilst Mal and Harry moved their belongings into the room facing the garden which connected to what had been described as a dressing room but had been turned into a nursery, with large windows overlooking the fields and the forest.

In the eves of the house, Carlos and Gil had two of the three rooms. They used the final empty room as a place to set up their gaming system and it doubled as a spare bedroom if anyone was to stay the night.

The first night in their house went successfully. They made dinner together, watched television in the large open plan area in which the kitchen blended into the living area and retreated to their own bedrooms shortly before midnight. The routine continued for a week as no-ones jobs started until June or September in some cases and they had no classes as they'd all sat their exams. The only school related thing they needed to attend was their graduation ceremony in July, but it was months away and far from the friends' minds.

By the third week of March, Mal was truly uncomfortable. She felt as though her skin was too tight and itchy, or she was a million pounds too heavy and unable to do simple things like flexing her feet. She had awoken each morning and laid in bed, Harry's arm draped over her midriff, and thought about what she would do if today was the day she went into labour.

On Tuesday, Mal was the first to stir as the baby had woken her just as the sun broke out over the fields and streamed through the half-closed curtains. Instinctively, some primal part of Mal knew she was having contractions, but they were mild and barely worse than period pain. Harry snored softly as Mal slowly climbed out of bed and made her way down to the kitchen to open up the windows and let in the fresh air. She began to make bacon and eggs for the house when a sharper pain in her abdomen caused her to shout out.

She took a step and realised her slippers were wet. Realising that her waters had broken, Mal realised the discomfort she had been feeling the previous night as she got into bed had probably been the beginning stages of labour and she had slept through the early parts of the labour without realising it.

"Holy shit!" she whispered hoarsely, staring at her reflection that was mirrored in her waters on the kitchen tiles. "Oh, Gods above."

Mal couldn't bring herself to climb the staircase again so she took several breaths and thought about what Godmother had told her in all their one-to-one lessons which had become maternity prep without either really noticing.

_Labour is a long process. Take a few breaths, organise your thoughts and summon me, no matter what time of day._

Mal breathed deeply several times, realising that she wasn't in too much pain and could continue with her morning routine as usual. She turned back to the stove and continued making breakfast, magicking away her waters and turning on the radio to distract her wandering mind.

By the time she had finished, the clock on the wall read seven-thirty and she sent a few bolts of green magic rushing up the staircase to wake her housemates, and a final one went zooming through the open kitchen window and across the fields in search of Godmother in the castle.

"Morning Mal," Carlos yawned, scratching his side as he ambled down the stairs and took a seat at the long dining table were Mal had set up the plates with the bacon and eggs and a steaming pot of tea.

"Morning," she replied softly, sipping on a cool glass of water. "You ready to become a godfather today?"

Carlos, in his sleepy state, nodded, not really taking in anything she said as he loaded his plate. "Totally. Pop that sucker out right now and I'll be ready."

"Good," Mal murmured, "cause my water broke about forty minutes ago and I've been having contractions since last night."

Carlos' reaction was instantaneous as if he had been hit by a bolt of lightning. He jumped up from his chair with wide eyes. "Oh my god! Oh my god!" he repeated, backing away from his friend. "Really!"

Mal nodded and rubbed her stomach as another stronger contraction took hold of her. She gritted her teeth and looked back to Carlos but he was hightailing it up the staircase two at a time. Mal rolled her eyes and took a seat at the dining table, nibbling on the boy's abandoned plate of eggs as she listened to him run across the floorboards upstairs, hammering on every door.

"THE BABY! OH, MY GOD, THE BABY IS HERE!"

* * *

_8:00 am - March 20th_

Evie, Harry, Lonnie and Jay were the first ones down, all a state of undress as they had been changing for breakfast or had slept through Mal's magical alarm in Harry's case.

The pirate was only in the boxers he had slept in, elbowing Evie who was in Doug's t-shirt and trying to push past the pirate to get to her best friend's side first. Jay and Lonnie both had wet hair and were wrapped in towels, dripping onto the floorboards with soapy bubbles still in their hair and on their shoulders. It was obvious they had been in the shower prior to Carlos' frantic outburst.

"Where's the baby?"

"Boy or girl?"

"Where's Godmother!"

They all shouted over each other, coming to a halt before Mal who gestured to the cooling breakfast on the table with a sense of serenity.

"I've not had the baby, you idiots. I've just gone into labour. Sit down, eat breakfast and wait with me for Godmother," Mal reassured her friends calmly, slowing down the high tempo and manic energy Carlos had left in the room. "Actually, you two finish your shower," she told Lonnie and Jay. "It'll be a few hours before the baby arrives."

"How are you so calm?" Evie asked, sitting down and pouring herself a cup of tea with a shaking hand. "I'm not sure I could eat and it's not even my baby."

Mal laughed, lacing her fingers through Harry's as his complexion paled as he sunk into the chair beside her. "We've got a few hours for me to begin worrying but I'm not worried. I've got all of you, and Godmother is staying in the spare bedroom for the first week. It takes a village don't forget and I'm not letting you lot forget that."

Jane arrived in the kitchen next with her phone in her hand. "My mum said I should begin timing your contractions and she'll be here with a midwife from the town in the next hour or two." She sat down on the seat Carlos had vacated and began to eat his forgotten food.

"Thanks, Janey," Mal said, her eyes fluttering closed as she felt another contraction. "This is one now."

Jane nodded around her mouthful of bacon and pressed record on her phone, timing until Mal nodded and seemed to relax. "I'll write them all down, what time they start and when they end," she rambled. "Or Evie could whilst I help Gil set the rest of the nursery up, you know, cause the changing table still needs to be built and there are some clothes that still need to be put away," she thought aloud as Mal relaxed back into her chair.

"I don't mind what you do this morning but when I actually am having this baby, I want everyone to be in the house," she told her friends.

"What do you mean?"

Mal finished her water in a gulp. "You heard Carlos, he's freaking the hell out and I'm not sure if you and Jay are going to make it through the next hour. Harry, are you even taking any of this in?" Mal questioned her beau, realising that the pirate hadn't blinked for a while and seemed to have frozen in his seat.

Evie leant over the table and poked the pirate. He opened and closed his mouth several times before blinking and looking into Mal's eyes. "I'm going to be a dad today. We're actually having a baby."

Mal and Evie fought back their laughter. It seemed that the pirate, who had been the epitome of calm during the pregnancy, seemed to only just understand that he would become a father at the end of the process. He would talk to the bump but it hadn't really sunk in for him.

Mal placed her hand on his stubbly cheek. "You already _are_ a father. It's just that after today, you'll be able to hold your child and they'll have a name and we will be a real family."

* * *

_10:20 am_

Godmother arrived with the same midwife who had delivered her own daughter all those years prior. The woman had silver hair tucked into a bun at the nape of her neck and deep wrinkles on her face but her icy blue eyes were kind and youthful which put Mal at ease.

Everyone was in the living area of the house, doing their own thing but all of them had one eye focused on Mal who was reading in one of the armchairs, her feet resting in Harry's lap who was perched on the coffee table in front of her, rubbing at the soles of her swollen feet.

"Good morning everyone," Godmother said as Jane let her into the house. "How has independence been treating you?" she asked, pulling her daughter into a hug. The Headmistress came around to Mal's side and dropped a kiss to her head as she listened to her students recount their week.

"Well, I've been tracking your contractions and we think it's best if we run you a bath Mal, is that alright? Might ease your discomfort a bit," Godmother suggested, helping the girl to her feet but her hand on Mal's back was gently removed and replaced by Harry's.

"How long before... you know," Doug asked as the group traipsed up the stairs to the largest bathroom on the second floor. Evie and Mal continued to the designer's closet for a bathing suit she had altered which enabled Mal to be in the water and be modestly covered, but still able to give birth if needed.

"If this babe is anything like Janey was, then it'll be just before sunset. Took nearly a whole day before she decided to actually throw things into gear and then she was in my arms within the hour," Godmother chuckled, wrapping an arm around her daughter who blushed.

The midwife instructed Gil to run the taps as she rooted in her large bag and handed Doug several glass bottles and told him to pour them into the water. "When was her very first contraction, my love?"

Mal was still gone so the question had been directed to Harry who still looked an uncharacteristic shade of pale green. "Uh..." he stuttered. "She complained of discomfort last night when we got into bed, that was around ten o'clock and she thinks that was probably the early stage of labour and she slept through most of the early stuff," he regurgitated the things Mal had told him and midwife nodded.

"Lucky girl, its a long process having a baby," she said simply. "How are the rest of you all coping with it?" Jane, Gil, Doug and Harry looked at the midwife with wide eyes.

"Why are you asking us? He's the father," Gil said, chuckling nervously and clapping his friend on the back.

"You are all becoming pseudo-parents today too. This child and I can tell, is loved by everyone in this house and I'm sure the parents are going to lean on you all for support. This is a scary and life-changing moment for everyone under this roof," the midwife said solemnly. "So again, how is everyone?"

"Carlos is having a small breakdown I think. Jay's gone for a run to try and clear his head apparently but I think he's scared and Lonnie is on some sort of cleaning mission and has been deep cleaning every room since she woke up," Jane gulped and looked at her mother for guidance.

Godmother sighed. "Everyone will react differently today. Just remember that and don't hold it against anyone if they can't be in the house for the day. I know I wouldn't have been able to be there if my childhood best friend had a baby whilst we were at school. I could barely believe I was in labour and having you," she said, smiling brightly at her daughter. "I'll go and make some lunch for everyone whilst Mal gets settled in the tub."

"I'll come help," Harry said, leaving the room as Mal entered it, squeezing her fingers as they passed in the doorway.

Down in the kitchen, Godmother and Harry interrupted Lonnie as she furiously scrubbed the kitchen tiles with a mop.

"Oh, hi- sorry, I'll-" Lonnie whipped around when she heard the two descended the staircase and into the living area.

"Why don't you two go outside and get rid of that nervous energy," Godmother said, taking the mop from her hands. "You're both giving me jitters." It was an order given as a suggestion but the two followed her lead and left through the side door to the small outhouse where they kept their fencing swords.

Without any words, Harry and Lonnie grabbed a foil and bowed at each other before sparring. It was an activity they engaged in often just to release some steam and soon they were engaged in the dance of the fight. As they slashed through the air with the blunt swords, Jay emerged from the fringing forest, sweating profusely as he slowed to a stop.

"Had to get out right. Nerves," he huffed, chugging on his water as he caught his breath. Neither took their eyes from the others sword but they nodded in sync with his statement. That was all it was, nervous energy manifesting into anxiety.

"She's in the bath with the midwife but she'll probably go to our bedroom," Harry told the pair. "I'm shitting myself."

"So is Carlos."

"I guess none of us is really ready," Jay sighed as he gulped down his water, looking up at the main bathroom and the large picture window with its frosted glass, blurry with the movement of those inside.

* * *

_12:30 pm_

With the water long gone cold, Mal shivered and asked to be relocated to her bedroom. Her contractions were coming quicker, with more intensity than before, but the midwife had given Mal a potion that reduced her pain dramatically so that she wasn't as uncomfortable as she had been before.

With her body going through the natural motions of labour, she could really begin to feel as though she was going to be a mother. The stirrings deep inside her when the baby moved had seemed like a whimsical thought for the last few weeks but even Mal could no longer deny the impending change that would come after this birth with the way she was feeling.

"I can't believe this is happening," Evie mumbled as Mal's grip on her hand became vice-like as another contraction made her whimper and throw her head back into the mountain of pillows Jane had surrounded her with.

Doug hissed as Mal's head came into contact with his chest. He had originally been sat behind Mal, her body between his legs so that he could help hold her steady. "How much longer?"

Godmother was sat in the corner of the room on the vanity's little stool, knitting as she spoke to the midwife. "Another hour or so yet. Need the final three centimetres and then we can really get things moving," she said, waving off Doug's whine as Mal's nails dug into his thigh.

"Does anyone want something to eat?" Lonnie's head popped around the door frame and she paled at the sight of Mal in the middle of her contraction.

"Why don't you come hold Mal's hand whilst I take a shower," Evie suggested, gently extracting herself from Mal's strong grip.

"No, no, it's alright," Lonnie began but Mal held out her hand and the girl faltered, unable to refuse. "What do I do?"

Mal smiled and laughed, a little weaker than was normal for her but Lonnie entered the room and climbed beside her on the large bed. "Just hold my hand."

For thirty minutes, Doug and Lonnie helped Mal through several more contractions, both slipping easily into caring and encouraging roles. By the time Evie returned, her wet hair braided down her back, Lonnie was so engrossed in praising Mal as she grunted through the pain that the blue-haired girl had to clamber onto the foot of the bed so that she could help in any way, leaving Mal's right side free for Harry if he decided to return to her side.

"Good girl, another two centimetres and then we'll begin to push," the midwife praised her as she checked Mal.

* * *

_3:56 pm_

Doug, Lonnie and Evie were coaxed out of the room to get something to eat and drink as they had missed the light lunch Jane had prepared. In their place, Jay, Gil and Carlos were sent up to keep the expectant mother company as Harry had gone for a jog around the surrounding fields to clear his head and get rid of the last of his nervous energy.

_Harry entered his bedroom and smiled at Mal who looked worn and tired but smiled brightly when she saw him. The pirate sat beside her and stroked her clammy forehead, marvelling at the way she still seemed so strong despite the obvious pain she was in._

_"I'm so sorry," he whispered, threading his fingers through her free hand and kissing her knuckles, mumbling into her skin._

_Mal blinked slowly, a tear gathering in the corner of her eye. With the pain and hormones, she had felt on the verge of tears all day and they were brimming on her lashes, waiting to be shed. "I love you."_

_"I caused this. You're in so much pain," he said as though the reminded made him ache. "I love you too much to see you in so much pain."_

_"It'll be worth it," she reassured him. _ _Harry had nodded at her answer but seemed unconvinced and then his knee began to bounce and his fingers began to shake._

_"Go for a run or take a shower. You're making me more nervous than Lonnie was," Mal grinned playfully, pushing him off the bed. "It'll be another hour or two yet."_

As per Mal's request, the pirate had left to calm down and she was left with the boys. Gil eagerly sat by the midwife and Godmother and began to pester the two with all manner of questions he had stored up about pregnancy, a woman's' body and babies so Mal was left with her two boys, each as nervous as each other to approach her on the large king sized bed.

"Hold my hands you idiots," she ordered and both boys carefully climbed onto the mattress and took her outstretched palms, each like bookends on either side of her.

"I don't want to hurt you or the baby," Jay said, eyeing Mal's exposed stomach where her skin stretched over the bump, shiny silver marks littering her lower abdomen.

"You won't do anything. But feel how much the baby moves with each contraction," Mal placed Jay's free hand over her belly button, his warm palm heating up her aching muscles. "Now don't move. That feels amazing."

Carlos timidly followed suit, allowing Mal to manoeuvre his hand to where she wanted it to be. The trio waited in comfortable silence for the next contraction and both boys seemed flabbergasted by the tensing of Mal's muscles and how hard her stomach went until she seemed to relax and the baby had shifted under their palms.

"I might throw up you know. When the head pops out and stuff," Carlos warned her and Mal laughed, her nose scrunching as she giggled.

"None of you boys will be down that end. In fact, besides Godmother, the midwife, Evie and possibly Gil as he's so interested, no one is looking down there until way after the birth," she told them, giggling as Gil fired another question off to the two women.

"Do you want me to go and get Harry," Jay asked quietly and Mal shook her head as Evie entered the bedroom with a cup of tea and a slice of toast for her.

"No. He needs time."

* * *

_5:32 pm_

Everyone bar Harry was gathered around Mal and the pirate's bedroom, sitting on something and listening to the radio Jane had carted up from the kitchen whilst the boys had taken the dining room chairs up so they could have somewhere besides the floor to sit.

Jay had taken up Doug's earlier spot behind Mal, his warm hands still on her bump as it seemed to ease her discomfort. Evie was back at her left and Lonnie was perched on the end of the bed, rubbing on her Mal's insoles as they waited for the pirate. She whimpered as her body began to feel as though pushing was the only next step.

"Alright dear, that's ten centimetres. Do you feel the need to push?" the midwife asked as she got up from the bed to wash her hand that had just been examining the girl who was nodding with a grimace. "We still waiting for the dad?"

As if by magic, the bedroom door opened and there was Harry, gnawing on his lip without his usual brooding eyes. He cleared his throat and slowly crossed the threshold as Mal smiled tiredly.

Without exchanging any words, Harry joined her on the bed and ran a finger across her damp brow. "I'm here now, shush, I'm not goin' anywhere," he murmured to her as the midwife rubbed her hands together.

"Let's have this baby!"


	8. Chapter 8

Time seemed to have slowed for Mal. She could hear her heartbeat thumping loud in her ears and as her breathing was slow and steady as she watched her friends get ready for the final stages of labour.

As if it was in slow-motion, Mal watched Gil rolled up his sleeve and ask the midwife if he could help in any way.

She felt a Jay and Harry's arms looping around her each of her thighs and helping her get into a comfortable position as another contraction hit her suddenly.

Lonnie winked to Mal as she scooted up the bed and rested her hand on the bump before moving out of the chaos to stand beside Godmother.

Evie wiped a few sweaty strands of hair out of the expectant mother's face with a large grin as Doug snapped a few photos and then stood beside his girlfriend saying encouraging things to Mal.

Jane was rubbing Carlos' shoulders as he sat straddling a dining room chair, arms crossed on the backrest looking slightly green as he watched Godmother and the Midwife set warm towels and blankets down around Mal's lower half as she began to push.

"Push love!"

Mal sucked in a deep breath and grunted as she pushed against the feeling of the contraction. After Evie's countdown from ten had finished, Mal gasped and her head fell back against Jay's chest.

"Come on Mal, big breath and then another push."

Her hands were gripping Evie and Harry's so hard the pair of them were half-heartedly attempting to claw her fingers away.

"Push!"

"I think I might faint," Carlos mumbled to Jane as he slumped slightly at the sight of Mal groaning primally as her cheeks and neck tinged red and she pushed.

"I can see the head! Keep pushing!" Gil said excitedly before being yanked by the collar of his shirt to Harry's side so he was no longer looking at Mal's lower half.

"I can't, I can't," Mal cried, tears slipping down over her cheeks.

Kisses landed on the back of her head, the backs of her hands and on her temple from those around her and numerous words of encouragement flooded over her, re-energising her.

"I love you. Bring our child into this world like I know you can," Harry whispered into her ear as the strongest contraction hit its peak and Mal grunted and groaned as she pushed as hard as she could.

"Oh, my gods!" Evie cried as she glanced down to see the head of the baby emerge.

"Bloody hell how much hair?" Gil remarked with a smile. "The heads out. Another push!"

Mal felt as though she was having an out of body experience as she gave a final push and felt her child being born.

A crying mess of a child covered in afterbirth and slightly wrinkly was rubbed down by Godmother and the Midwife as her friends cried and clapped.

"Its a girl!" Godmother told the parents as she handed the bundle carefully to Evie who placed the babe on Mal's chest, skin to skin.

"Would you like to cut the cord dad?" the midwife asked, holding out a pair of scissors out by the blades for the awestruck pirate.

He gulped and licked his dry lips. "I don't want to hurt her," he replied, shrinking back as the midwife grabbed his fingers and slipped them into the handles.

"You won't, I promise," she reassured him, helping him open the scissors and placed them on the cord. "Just cut here."

The snip of the cord and the delivery of the afterbirth happened within moments and then the midwife was congratulating them on the successful birth of the baby.

"Godmother will weigh her and then you can cuddle her," the midwife told them as the baby was placed into a scarf which was attached to a small set of hand-held scales.

With bated breath, everyone watched Godmother place the baby into the scarf and then lift the scales, the precious bundle swaying ever so gently as Godmother took her weight.

"6 pounds, three ounces," she smiled. "Just a few ounces short of my own Jane."

Jane's cheeks darkened at the mention of herself but she was quickly reminded of Carlos as his head slumped forwards.

"Is he alright?" Jay grinned, laughing at his friends' predicament.

"Yeah, he stupidly looked up when the placenta was being delivered, ignoring me as I told him not to look yet," Jane sighed, patting the boy's head affectionately.

"Sorry if you don't get any sympathy," Mal said, licking her dry lips as Godmother set the baby down on the mattress and then handed her back to lay on her mother's chest.

Laughter bubbled around the room which turned to a coo from Evie as the baby's cries settled and her tiny fingers splayed out over Mal's collarbone. Harry's palm rested on the baby's back, covering her completely.

"A girl. I mean, I'm still having trouble getting to terms with a baby, but a _baby girl_!" Doug said in awe. "You're parents."

Mal laughed but it was slow and tired as her eyelids drooped. "Don't forget, you're all godparents, in it as much as we are."

"To the most spoilt-" Jay began.

"-Loved!" Lonnie interrupted.

"Yes, loved, obviously what I meant. The most_ loved_ child in the kingdom."

"To Violet," Harry whispered into Mal's hair, tears of happiness spilling down both of their cheeks as they looked from their daughter to their family, happier than they'd ever felt before.


End file.
